In the first match up of the day in the Baltimore Sports Moment of the Year Tournament, the #1 seed in the Unitas Region, the Orioles First Playoff Win at Camden Yards since 1997 faces the 16 seed Loyola Greyhounds First Championship in Men’s Lacrosse.

#1 Orioles First Playoff Win at Camden Yards Since 1997

Even for a guy that’s not an Orioles fan, this was awesome. Not just that it was an Orioles playoff win, but that it was over the Yankees. Not just over the Yankees, but over Andy Pettitte who has OWNED the O’s in his career (27-5 record vs. Baltimore going into the playoff game).

After allowing an early Robinson Cano RBI double, Wei-Yin Chen (6.1 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) held the Yankees in check, Chris Davis plated two with a single, and the O’s pen was as good as advertised with Darren O’Day, Brian Matusz, and Jim Johnson shutting the door on a 3-2 Orioles victory 15 years in the making. In my opinion, this might’ve been the biggest win of the season for the O’s. If they had been swept by the Yankees in the first round, the advanced statisticians would’ve swarmed Baltimore like piranhas with their run differential centered stories. Instead, the Orioles went to the Bronx tied 1-1 with a legitimate chance to win the series.

#16 Loyola Men’s Lacrosse Wins First Championship

This is a tough seeding. Kind of like a team from a small conference that wins every game and then loses in their conference championship. The Greyhounds went 18-1, including 6-0 in conference. They outscored their opponents 229 – 137. It’s a D1 national championship, and if I could actually watch a full lacrosse game, I’d probably be much more outspoken about this seeding travesty. But I can’t, I’ll stop here.

VOTE NOW!

Voting is open from 8:00 AM on Sunday February 24 to 8:00 AM Sunday February 25.

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